Germany's politically incorrect
Mardi Gras Monday

Today's "Rosenmontag"
parade in Düsseldorf, Germany proved again
that the
Düsseldorf parade is in a politically incorrect Mardi Gras Monday class all its own.

by Paul Kieffer
February 19, 2007

U.S. President George Bush
is repulsed by the
unpleasant "armpit of evil" found in Iran.

Adolf
Hitler "produces" today's
right-wing NPD
party in a most unusual manner.

Is there a
difference between reality and cliché
according to this Rosenmontag parade float?

Mardi Gras Monday in
Germany, the Monday right before Ash
Wednesday called "Rosenmontag" by the
Germans, is famous for the huge crowds that
gather in Mardi Gras ["Karneval" in German]
bastions like Aachen, Cologne,
Düsseldorf and Mainz to watch the
traditional parades. The Rosenmontag
tradition dates back over a century, and
the parades are known for creative float
designs that often poke fun at political
leaders – domestic and international
– and developments on the world
scene.

In recent years Düsseldorf's
Rosenmontag parade has earned the
reputation of producing the most biting
political satires among its many parade
floats. This year's parade lived up to that
reputation, with a couple of floats likely
to be considered a bit too brazen even for
Mardi Gras humor.

An example of a typical Rosenmontag view
of the world situation was a
Düsseldorf parade float showing U.S.
President George Bush reacting to the
repulsive smell of Iranian President
Ahmadinejad's armpit. The German word for
"armpit" ["Achsel"] is only one letter
different from the word for "axis"
["Achse"]. The play of words relegated the
nuclear-muscled Iranian President to the
"armpit of evil".

Another Düsseldorf float theme
crossed an unspoken line by depicting
former German dictator Adolf Hitler. Hitler
has his pants down and is in the process of
defecating the ultra-right "National
Democratic Party of Germany" [NPD]. The NPD
has its largest following in the former
East Germany, where unemployment and
discontent run high. However, with its
xenophobic terminology and unprofessional
antics in the Saxony state parliament in
Dresden, the NPD remains on the fringe of
today's German politics. To be on the safe
side, though, Düsseldorf parade
director Hermann Schmitz did not allow the
float to be unveiled until 20 minutes prior
to the start of the parade to prevent any
neo-Nazi sabotage of the Hitler image.

The float in Düsseldorf likely to
be considered the most controversial
depicted the widespread public image of
Moslem clerics by displaying a cleric
labeled "cliché" armed to the teeth
with a pistol, bullets and explosives. Next
to him on the float was an identical Moslem
cleric labeled "reality".

While it is highly unlikely that
Düsseldorf's muslim cleric float will
produce anything like the Mohammed cartoon
controversy when a Danish newspaper
published satirical images of Mohammed, the
result will also not be improved relations
between Germany's Muslim community and the
German people. The secretary of the Muslim
central committee in Germany, Aiman A.
Mazyek, wasted no time in criticizing the
depiction. "That doesn't have anything to
do with humor," he said in Cologne. Mazyek,
who was born in Germany, interpreted the
float's real message in an interesting way:
"We love our prejudices, we defend our
prejudices – if need be with outright
lies."

This year's Rosenmontag parade in
Düsseldorf was the political highlight
of a day of parades and all-day parties
throughout the Rhein River area and
elsewhere in Germany.